Vanuatu
p. 71 · Read in the full issue
Register
Since the comments on this page were written the Vanuatu parliament passed legislation to establish its proposed international ship ping register. Under the legislation the managing office for the register will be set up in New York in USA, and the operation will be based on the Liberian Ship ping Registry, said to be biggest in the world.
Registration fees to fly the Vanuatu flag will range from SUS Ito $ 1.50 per net tonne, and an annual tonnage tax of 25 cents per net tonne will be charged.
A commissioner of mari time affairs, based in Vanuatu, and a deputy com missioner, based in New York will be appointed. A statement from the Vanuatu government late in March said that the New York and Vanuatu offices would be
‘professionally managed’
and that high standards would be set for the regis tration requirements of ships and for the certification of officers and crews.
The statement added; ‘The government is confident that the shipping register will be of substantial benefit to the future econ omy of Vanuatu, and will be welcomed by the shipping industry’.